American Conservative Herald

Look What Prosecutors Take Away From Debbie — Now She’s Sprinting Out Of The Capitol Doors!

The case of the Pakistani IT staffers who worked for several Democratic congresspersons and the allegations of their criminal behavior is not a story that is going away. Certainly not anytime soon. With at least one of these IT staffers, the ringleader no less, already under indictment, we have at least one trial to follow. There likely will be more.

Then there is the almost inevitable congressional investigation into this entire scandal. There are just too many burning questions to be addressed. Why did around 40 Democratic representatives hire these Pakistanis? Were they properly vetted, especially considering the sensitivity of the materials they would be working with? Why were they paid such outrageous fees?

And why did Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz keep one of these staffers on her payroll all the way up to the day he was arrested by the FBI as he was trying to flee the country? And that is only part of Debbie’s problems.

That Debbie has had at least one notebook computer comes as no surprise. That she has some highly personal information on it would be expected as well. Her problem starts if it contains incriminating evidence. She has certainly done everything she can, even using her legal counsel, to get her computer back. So far, she has had no success. If information on that computer can be tied to any espionage or other crimes committed by these IT staffers, her troubles are about to get a whole lot worse.

Thus far, Debbie has been removed as chair of the DNC. Now we can add two more things she has lost. One is any integrity she had due to her involvement in this cyber-espionage case involving the IT staffers. The other is her laptop. Prosecutors have gained possession of it, and attempts by her attorney to get it back have been unsuccessful.

“Prosecutors have given Imran Awan a copy of the hard drive of a House laptop that Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz tried to keep law enforcement from looking at, court filings show, suggesting prosecutors intend to bring charges related to the underlying cybersecurity and theft probe.

“The hard-drive copy was included in discovery even though the Florida Democrat has said the laptop contains House information on it and is a government-paid work computer, and even though Imran was fired and banned from the House network because of suspected cybersecurity violations.

“Imran left the laptop, with the username RepDWS, in a phone booth in circumstances that suggest that it was not accidentally forgotten there. Alongside it, he left a copy of his ID and letters to the U.S. attorney that ensured it would be treated as evidence instead of simply returned as a missing laptop.

“Imran entered a House office building the night of April 6, two months after he was banned by House authorities from touching its network, and placed the laptop, a copy of his ID, and letters to the US Attorney in a phone booth, according to a police report. There would be little reason to enter the phone booth, and it would be difficult to forget items there.”

So it’s clear that Imran wanted law enforcement personnel to gain possession of Debbie’s laptop and the information contained on it. What is not clear is his precise motivation. However, this is about the last thing Debbie wanted to see happen. She has been trying to quarantine information, not have it turned over to federal investigators.

The evidence that Wasserman Schultz has something to hide is overwhelming. For example, she has even changed her story over who the laptop belongs to.

“David Damron, a spokesman for the Florida lawmaker, declined to tell The Daily Caller News Foundation why Wasserman Schultz would still be so adamant the allegations against Imran were made up even after Imran apparently took her laptop late at night and left it where it would be found, alongside other seemingly carefully curated evidence.

“Damron would not clarify why she said the laptop was hers and she had lost it, then that it was Imran’s and she had never even seen it, and finally, the revelation that it had the username RepDWS, rather than Imran’s username.”

As we learned from the Watergate investigation and scandal is that sometimes it’s not so much the crime as it is the cover-up that gets you into trouble. That piece of history appears to be repeating itself here. Wasserman Schultz has contradicted herself repeatedly which basically shouts that she has something very incriminating to hide. Not only that, one has to wonder who else the information on that notebook computer might implicate.

“After learning that Imran was the subject of an investigation, Wasserman Schultz went out of her way to add his wife, Hina Alvi, to her payroll in a newly created position as a second IT aide. In March, Hina left the country with $12,000 in cash, her children, and large amounts of household goods while Wasserman Schultz knew she was the subject of a criminal investigation, but she kept paying Imran. Weeks later on April 6, the laptop and letters to the U.S. Attorney turned up in the phone booth.”

These incidents are too bizarre to just be innocent coincidences. Wasserman Shultz is in serious trouble. What we are missing are the details that will string together the pieces of this story so it all makes sense. What we do know is that you don’t take the actions she has unless you are desperate to keep something hidden.